Daily Archives: August 9, 2017
Feds slash Red Hake possesion limit – BIG reduction from 3,000 lbs per trip to 400 lbs per trip
The northern red hake commercial possession limit is reduced from 3,000 lbs per trip to 400 lbs per trip. Effective immediately, federally permitted vessels may not possess on board or land more than 400 lb of northern red hake per trip for the remainder of the 2017 fishing year (i.e., through April 30, 2018). This reduction is required because the northern red hake fishery is projected to have reached or exceeded 37.9 percent of the total allowable landings. Vessels that have started a fishing trip when this possession limit reduction becomes effective may retain northern red hake under the previous possession limit of 3,000 lb for the remainder of that trip Dealers issued federal dealer permits for small-mesh multispecies may not purchase more than 400 lbs of northern red hake per trip from federally permitted vessels for trips started after August 7, 2017. Read the full notice click here 21:19
Trump Admin Won’t List Non-Endangered Tuna As An Endangered Species
The Trump administration declined a petition to list the Pacific bluefin tuna as “endangered” Tuesday after the Department of Commerce (DOC) found that the fish was not facing any significant threat of extinction. A petition from the Center of Biological Diversity to list the fish under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) triggered the Commerce Department’s review. The review began under former President Barack Obama, and lasted for 12 months before the DOC’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued its findings, according to the notice published in the Federal Register. The Center for Biological Diversity claimed the tuna was at risk of extinction, based on findings by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). click here to read the story 20:01
Drone images of the lobster fleet
Maine is known around the world for the iconic lobster boats that dot the coast and are the primary vehicle for the state’s renowned fishing industry. Portland-based photographer Mark Fleming has developed a new perspective on these boats by using a drone to capture them in an innovative, yet classic fashion. The Island Institute is celebrating Fleming’s extraordinary visual record of these working vessels by featuring his work on the covers of the new edition of the Island Journal, the Institute’s annual magazine.,,“Fishermen take pride in their boats,” said Fleming. “Not only do they often put their life savings into these vessels, but they put their personalities into them as well. It’s these details that become really important when you isolate the boat.” click here to read the story 16:53
Family of dead fisherman allegedly denied $30K benefit over owing dues to FFAW
The family of a fisherman who was killed in a car crash last week says they are being denied a $30,000 benefit because his union card expired the day before he died. Calvin Tobin was just 25 when he died in the crash near Clarenville on Aug. 1. Now his family is fighting to collect his life insurance policy, which they say is being held up by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW). Tobin was 24 hours overdue on union fees when doctors were trying to save his life. “For the sake of one day really … they are refusing to pay out his benefits,” said Richard Brewer, Tobin’s uncle.,,, Tobin may have believed his union fees were already covered, his uncle said. click here to read the story 13:42
Unbelievable! Court backs lobster cruelty fine against Sydney Fish Markets store
The state’s first crustacean cruelty conviction will stand after Nicholas Seafood at Glebe lost an appeal in the District Court. The conviction was recorded after photographs emerged of a staffer carving up a lobster without first stunning it at the store’s Sydney Fish Markets premises. The store had appealed the “severity” of a $1500 fine imposed by the Sydney Downing Centre Court in February relating to a charge of an act of animal cruelty. It had been enforced after a member of the public recorded a fishmonger killing the lobster without any attempt to stun the animal to mitigate its suffering. click here to read the story 13:08
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: Novi Lobster Boat 49’x11’x20′ 335HP, 6 Cylinder Volvo Diesel
Specifications, information and 11 photos click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:01
P.E.I.’s fall fishery facing falling lobster prices, surging dollar
Bobby Jenkins, Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association president, says there are a much smaller number of fishermen harvesting lobster in the fall, compared with the Island’s spring fishery. That, he said, may help maintain prices but there are storm clouds on the horizon. P.E.I.’s fall lobster fishermen set their gear in the Northumberland Strait between Victoria and North Cape on Tuesday. They share the lobster fishing zone with New Brunswick fishermen and a few harvesters from Nova Scotia. The first full catches of the season will be landed today. click here to read the story 09:59
For New Commercial Fishermen, Licensing Hurdles Are High
For Sag Harbor native Aaron Rozzi, embarking on a career as a commercial fisherman was always going to be a steep uphill climb. Increasingly stringent regulation of fish stocks, and the ever-escalating costs of equipment, fuel and simply living on the South Fork make the life of a traditional bayman a hard path to follow in today’s world.,,, Stian Stiansen, a Hampton Bays fisherman who died at the age of 85 when his boat capsized while returning from fishing into Shinnecock Inlet in 2013, thought he had made all the necessary arrangements to transfer his licenses to his nephew, Norman Stiansen, before he died. Norman, also a Shinnecock Bay-based dragger captain, like his father and uncle, intended to take Stian’s licenses and transfer his own licenses to his son, Peter, who was nearing the age when he would take over a boat and go to work for himself. click here to read the story 09:34
F/V Destination Investigation: Day 2 – Brother of lost fisherman tells investigators about pressures of commercial fishing
Two days before the fishing vessel Destination disappeared in the Bering Sea with six crew members aboard, Dylan Hatfield met up with the crew in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Hatfield previously worked on the Destination. His brother, Darrik Seibold, took his place and was among those lost at sea. “I personally worked with every single man,” Seibold (Hatfield) told Coast Guard investigators who are looking into the February sinking of the boat. Hatfield said when he came off another boat and met the Destination’s crew, “the boys were pretty beat down. It was a pretty grueling cod season” with 24-hour work shifts. The crew was switching seasons, from cod to crab, and they were behind schedule for a delivery. Over dinner at the Norwegian Rat Saloon, Hatfield said, “I was all giddy and excited and it was a table full of long faces.” Video, click here to read the story 08:38
